Knitting machine



March 5,1946.

T. S. HAYHURST KNITTING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 13', 1944 'INVENT R Thomas 2 aia how TTORN I March 5, 1946. S.IHAYHURS' I I 2,395,820

KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 13, 1944 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Thomas 5. flay/alum?- ATTORN EYS March 5, 1946. T. S.'HAYHURST KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 13, 1944 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Thom .ll lll.lll Illl MarchS, 1946. 'r. s. HAYHURST KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 13, 1944 a Sheets-Sheet 6 Thomas AStHa /2 ATTORNEYS hmN vmw March 5, 1946. T. s. HAYHURST KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 13, 1944 I 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR Thomas bi ficyhwzst @fl l March 5, 1946. T. s. HAYHURST 2,395,820

KNITTING MACHINE I Filed April 13, 1944 a Sheets-Sheet 8 INVE TOR T/zamas Hal/hamllinks knittin men-in Ma; s, 1946 1 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE KNITTING MACHINE Thomas Hayhurst, B o

elle Harbor, N. Max Nydcgger, Summit, N J

Y., assignor Application April 13, 1944, Serial No. 530,767-

The present invention relates to an improvementin knitting machines. An object thereof has been to provide improved mechanism by which to selectively position devices such as a selector bar for actuating control jacks in knitting machines more particularly of the links or parts broken away of a portion of the end of the machine illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3, a fragmentary view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the control link which cooperates with another similar link. as seen in Figure 3, inithe automatic control of selector bar positioning devices; Y

Figure 4, an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section. on the line 4-4 of Figure 2 showing a portion of the profile bar and lifter plate (jacquard) selecting or conditioning mechanism;

Figure 5, a transverse vertical section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; 1 Figure 6, a transverse vertical section on the line 8-6 of Figure 4;

Figure 7, a transverse vertical section,

on the line 1+! of Figure 1;

enlarged,

drawings ting cams 34,

, pinwardly, shall cause its remain idle, to knit links-links, or to knit straight.

Figure 8, a portion of Figure 7 further enlarged Q to more clearly tioning devices;

a Figure 9, a view partly in horizontal vertical section on the line 9-8 of Figure 8 and with portions broken away and with some parts removed.

Figure 10, a'simplifled section illustrating the relative positions of the parts when the locking bar is in intermediate or change position and the show parts of needle jack condimain Jacksare free to be moved upwardly, the

selector bar being shown in engage and lift a profile bar; L

Figure 11, a fragmentary view of parts as shown in Figure lo and with a lift plate raised to an raised position to intermediate main jack lifting position by the selector bar; I

Figure 12, a view similar to Figure'll with the and interposed jack 29 Figure 14, a fragmentary view in elevation ofa group of three diflerent profile bars, with outer portions'broken away, to illustrate the relative positions of the dependent lugs on said several bars; and I Figure 15, an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical section illustrating 35 by push jacks I93 actuated by push-in bar i95. A set of control jacks is used in conjunction with other devices to determine the operative effect on each said needle jack and needle of each corresponding push jack I93.

I Such a set of control Jacks includes, Figure 8, said push Jack I93, the connecting jack 284, main jack 293, interposed jack 295, and cross jack 28L Connecting jack 294 engages an under portion of push jack I93 and is vertically adjustable to vary the angular position of said push Jack I93 and thus to determine whether the latter, when moved corresponding needle to Unless idled, as by operation of cross jack 2'9l 5, or otherwise, the con-. necting jack 294 is raised, when looking bar 285 is in change position, Figures 10, 11, 12, by lifting main jack 293 to one or another of two positions to produce either links-links or straight knitting. I This is efiected by various means for different purposes: as by the gathering bar 321, to position all active needles to knit alike, 1. e. all links-links or all straight; by lifter plates 345, 346, Figures v 9, 11, 12, to condition predetermined end needles for decking, in which case said end needles are positioned as for straight knitting, or to condition said end needles for links-links; and by portions of the front Said lifting plates 345, 348 are actuated to raise lifters 281 while the latter are disposed in any -main jacks 293 by raising fashioning bar 341 selected lifting position.

' against an under surface thereof. This in turn is effected by raising the selector orslide bar 502 to bring the lift lugs 20! thereon against one or the other of the sets of depending short lugs 343, or long lugs 344, on fashioning bar 34!,

Fi ures 11 and 12.

The profile bars 211, 2110.,- 21117, etc., are provided in sets having different pattern producing characteristics, 14. Each bar 211' has spaced depending lugs 280; and the lugs 280a, 2801) of each of said other bars are differently positioned longitudinally in relation thereto from the lugs of each other bar. Said differential positioning corresponds in extent to the space between each short lug 343 and its adjacent long lug 344 on fashioning bar 341. Said bars 211 are actuated to raise main jacks 293 by raising selector bar 502 from normal position (dotted line Figure to bring said lift lugs 28! thereon into engagement with the depending lugs 280 of one or another of said setsof bars 211.

Selector bar 502 is raised to lift saidfashioning bar 341 and thereby said lifting plates 345, 346 and to raise. said profile bars 211 through lift lugs 28! by push rod 509 and suitable devices connected therewith.

Selector bar Means have been described above whereby the main-jack lifting instrumentalities, as the profile bars 211, the fashioning bar 341 and thereby the lifting plates 345 and 346, are raised to effect the operation of predetermined selected needle lacks 28 and their needlesthrough corresponding sets of control jacks.

- Means are also provided for determining which ones of said profile bars shall be lifted and to what level said lifting plates shall be raised while the latter are in any position of adjustment to actuate one or more predetermined or selected main jacks. One embodiment of such means and of parts operatively related thereto is hereinafter described and illustrates the subject matter of the appended claims.

As seen in Figure 9, the profile and fashioning bar lift lugs 28f are secured on a sliding carrier, as the selector bar 502, at intervals corresponding to the space between the depending selector lugs 280 on each .of the profile bars 211, which is the same as that between the depending short lugs 343 and between the depending long lugs 344 on each of the fashioning bars 341. Said lift lugs 28l are thus movable with said selector bar 502 to various predetermined operative positions in relation to said profile bars and said fashioning bars where they engage one or another of said different sets of depending selector lugs 280, or lugs .343, 344 according to pattern requirements.

Selector bar 502 is supported at intervals and near its ends in suitable bearings, as the channeled blocks 503, Figures 5, '1 and 8, which are pivotally supported on levers 504, secured at the outer ends of rock shafts iournaled in bearings 506. The inner ends of said shafts carry crank arms 501, Figure 8, pivotally connected at 508 to push bar 509. Said push bar 500 isreciprocated endwise against spring resistance by suitable means. This endwise movement of push bar-605 is employed to rock crank arms 501 and thereby levers 504 which raise selector bar 502 and its as the three bars shown, Figure Devices for imparting endwise movement i. e.

selective positioning to selector bar 502, and thus to lift lugs 28!, includea chain 511, Figure 2, having one end connected directly to said selector bar 502 and the other and connected thereto through a spring 512. Said chain .5 H is supported lbetwe'en idler sprockets 513 and 514; and is driven by a sprocket 515 secured on a shaft 516, Figures 4 and 5. Controlled rotation in either direction is imparted to shaft 5 I 6 by suitable clutch devices interposed between drive shaft 5 and said shaft 516 in accordance wth pattern requirements.

Shaft 516 has at its inner end, Figure 5, a gear 511 which meshes with a pinion 518 on a countershaft 519. A bevel gear 520 fixed on an inner end portion of said countershaft 5 l 9 meshes with opposed bevel gears 52! and 522 loosely mounted on the continuoutly rotating main drive shaft 6, Figure 4, said gear 521 being mounted to turn with a ratchet wheel 523, and said gear 522,

with a ratchet wheel 524.

A spring biased pawl 525, Figure 6, is pivoted at the outer end of a pawl arm 526-secured to shaft 6 and operates under controlled conditions to rotate shaft 516 in one direction through saidcountershaft 5l9. A similar pawl 521, Figure 5,

' is pivoted at the outer end of a similar pawl arm 528 secured to shaft 6 and operates under other controlled conditions to rotate shaft 516 in the opposite direction through said countershaft.

Means. for controlling the extent of rotation of countershaft 5l9 when actuated-by said pawl 525 are shown in part in Figure 6.. A plate 529 forming in effect a fixed segment of a pawl controlling or retaining ringprovides an inwardly exposed cylindrical surface 530 concentric with afford a bearing for the tail portion ofsaid which the other end portion thereof is held out of engagement with ratchet wheel 523. Said se ment defines a gap having its maximum opening extending from shoulder 531 clockwise, Figure 6, to shoulder 532. The extent of said gap is controllably varied by a rotatable ring segment 533 carried at one side of said fixed segment 529 on a spider having a central collar 534 and arms 535,

said collar being loose on shaft 6. An actuating arm 536 extends radially from said collar 534 and is operatively connected with control devices, as a control shaft 531, through a link 538 and a crank arm 539 secured on said shaft 531. Said shaft 531 is connected at its outer end portion and actuated by a control link 805 through an arm 806, Figure 1, said link being moved endwise, for this purpose by an automatic control device.

The rotatable. ring segment 533 provides an inwardly directed cylindrical bearing surface 533a concentric with shaft 6 and of substantially the same angular extent as the gap from shoulder 53! to shoulder 532, and in effect, forms a continuation or extension of the fixed surface 530 in that the tail of pawl 525 normally rides on portions of both of said surfaces during rotation of shaft 6 to hold the nose end of said pawl out of engagement with ratchet 523. However, when during a single rotation of main shaft 5 control shaft 521 is'rotated to bring said ring segment 533 into one of its operative positions,-as that shown in Figure 6, for example, a gap is left between fixed shoulder 532 and the lower end shoulder 540 of said rotatable ring segment 533, When the tail of pawl 525, moving clockwise, Figure 6. with rotation of pawl arm 528 secured to shaft lifting position to ing devices.

' above described,

shall be raised tive when used with 8, passes said shoulder 540, ratchet 523 is ensaged and turned by the nose of said pawl until further rotation of pawl arm 520 brings said tall portion of pawl 525 against shoulder-532 which disengages the nose of said pawl 525 from driving engagement with ratchet 528.

The parts are so calibrated that each rotation of eflects one unit of linear movement of the selector bar 502, i. e. the distance from one operative the next. .Also, the extent of opening of the gap between fixed shoulder 532 and the lower end shoulder 540 of the ring segment 533 determines the extent of operative movement of -pawl 525 and hence of ratchet 523. Thus, the

.various operative lifting positions of said selector bar 502 may be numbered, or otherwise identifled, for pattern purposes; and suitable selective control devices are provided to govern the timing, extent, and. direction of movement of said se1ector bar 502.

ratchet 523 to the extent of one tooth thereof,

' my co-pending application Serial No. 530,761 filed aflected thereby to positions. means selector bar towardsaid lacks, a plurality of It will be clear that the aforesaid controlled rotation of ratchet 523 will impart equivalent movement to bevel gear'522 and thence through the previously described connections to sprocket 5l5 in the direction of the dotted arrow,

, Figure 2. This imparts outward movement (right Figure 2) to selector slide bar 502.

Parts of like function to those above described and as shown in Figure 5, operate in a similar manner to produce controlled rotation of sprocket 5| 5 and therefore linear movement of selector bar 502 in the opposite direction (left Figure 2). For this purpose, a separate control is provided including the control shaft 54l having a crank arm 542. A link 543 connects said arm 542 with a radial arm 544 extending from the hub 545 of a spider which supports a rotatable ring segment 546 in cooperative relation to a fixed segment 541. For controlling adjustment of selector bar 502 in said opposite direction, control shaft 54! is operatively connected at its outer end portion to be rocked by endwise movement of a control link 80'! similar to link 805'and actuated byan automatic control device, Figures 1 and 3.

A dial 548, Figures 2 and 5, is secured at the outer end of shaft 516 and carries on its beveled perimeter a series of markings, as ordinals,'which identify the various Jack lifting positions of bar 502. A fiducial mark or pointer 549 is fixed at a point adjacent the periphery of said dial so that an operator may convenientl ascertain which lifting position of bar 502 is currently effective at any stage of operation.

, Said bar 502 will retain any given setting until moved therefrom by operation of the reposition- Thus if bar 502 is at what may be designated as the fifth place it can be repositioned to the third place by a two point reverse movement, The pattern will be so laid out and the profile bars 21! so arranged that the adjustments in any direction will be within the limits of movement of the control mechanism.

My invention, as embodied in the machine provides a relatively simple and rapidly acting mechanism for varying the position of the selector slide bar 502 and thereby determining which of the various profile bars-211 orto what extent the fashioning bar 34| shall be lifted. In either case, the effect is to 'determine which active needlesshall produce links-links and which straight knitting in any course where both arerequired.

The improved arrangement is especially efiecthe devices, as shown, for automatically determining which herewithand of which the present application is in effect a division.

Iclaim: a V 1. In a flat links knitting machine wherein 'main control Jacks are movable to one position to cause needles affected thereby to, knit linkslinks and to a difierent position to cause needles of a selector bar having a lug extending there:

from and beingslidably mounted endwise for adlusting said lug to and from different operative for effecting movement of said transmitting devices operatively interposed'between said selector ,bar and said jacks and each having portions positioned to engage said jacks and other portions positioned to be engaged by said lug to transmit said movement of said bar to said jacks, said other portions being disposed in offset relation to each other and opposite said different operative positions of said lug, and means for adjustably moving said bar endwise to bring said lug thereon into and out of position 80 to engage different ones of said lug engaging por- 85 tioning positions, in one of 40 extending upwardly tions of the transmitting devices.

2; In a flat links knitting machine wherein main control jacks are raised from normal inoperative position to different active needle condiwhich the corresponding needles effect links-links knitting and in the other of which the corresponding needles effect straight knitting, the combination of a longitudinally slidable selector-bar having a lift lug therefrom, a plurality of lift mounted to be raised from inoperative position toward said jacks and each having a depending lug which extends toward said bar and is disposed Opposite a different portion thereof, means for adjusting said bar longitudinally to bring said lift lug into operative position opposite one or another of said depending lugs, and means for raising said selector bar when in said operative position.

3. In selector transmitting plates knitting machines, the combination of a counterneedles shall mentwith said ratchet and a rear shaft mounted to rotate in opposite directions, means operatively connecting said countershaft to said bar, a drive shaft, a ratchet operatively connected to said countershaft, a pawl carrying arm fixed on said drive shaft, 9, fixed pawl guiding member having a segmental cylindrical bearing face concentric adjustable pawl guidin member having a seemental cylindrlcal bearing face concentric with said drive shaft and-mounted to form an extension of said fixed segmental cylindrical bearing face, a pawl mounted on said pawl arm and hav- 4. In selector bar actuating mechanism for idle ln'any course and withknit straight, the combination bar actuating mechanism for i with said drive shaft, a rotatably knitting machines, the combination of a countershait mounted to rotate in opposite directions, means operatively connecting said countershaft to said bar, a drive shaft, a ratchet operatively connected to said countershaft, a pawl carrying arm fixed on said drive shaft, a. pawl retaining ring concentric with said drive shaft and having a fixed segment and a movable segment adjustable in relation thereto, a pawl mounted on said pawl arm and having a nose portion biased toward driving engagement with said ratchet and a rear portion positioned to engage 'saidring to hold said nose portion out of operative engagement with said ratchet, and means for rotating said movable segment toadjust one end thereof to and from different spaced relations to an end of the fixed segment and thus to form gaps of different angular extent between said ends.

5. In a knitting machine wherein predetermined control jacks are actuated by devices having different control jack affecting characteristics, and wherein said devices are arranged side by side and each has a set of depending lugs, those of each set being offset longitudinally from those of each other set, the combination of a selector bar having spaced lug engaging members, means for adjusting said bar endwise to bring said members into and out of operative relation with one or another of said sets of lugs, and means for actuating said bar, when adjusted, to move in a direction to advance said devices into operating engagement with said control jacks.

6. In a knitting machine provided with needles and jacks arranged and adapted for conditioning said needles for knitting straight or links-links, the combination of a plurality of jack actuating profile bars arranged in parallel relation and movable toward and from said jacks and One of saidbars having a different jack positioning effect from another bar, a profile bar actuating device,

means .operatively arranged between each of said bars and said actuating device-and differentially positioned longitudinally in relation to said several bars to transmit movement of the profile bar actuating device to said profile bars, and means for moving said profile bar/actuating device longitudinally to and from difierent operative positions to actuate different ones of said profile bars.

'7. In a knitting machine provided with needles and jacks movable to one position to condition said needles for straight knitting and to a difierent position to condition said needles for linkslinks operation, the combination of a lift plate arranged and adapted to move said jacks to said different positions, a selector bar adjustable longitudinally to one position for straight knitting and to another position for links-links operation, and a fashioning bar arranged and adapted to transmit different conditioning movements to said jacks from said selector bar in said several posi-- tions of longitudinal adjustment thereof.

8. In a knitting machine provided with needles and jacks arranged and adapted to be moved to difierent extents for conditioning said needles to produce different stitch forming effects, the combination of a lift plate operatively related to and movable toward said jacks to efiectconditioning movement thereof, a fashioning bar movable ward said lift plate and arranged and adapted to engage and move said lift plate difierent distances to impart corresponding movement to said jacks, and fashioning bar actuating means movable to engage said her and adjustable to different positions longitudinally thereof, whereby, when said actuating means actuates said fashioning bar at one position of engagement therewith, said bar moves said lift plate a predetermined extent and when at another position of engagement, moves said lift plate a difierent extent.

THOMAS S. HAYHURST. 

